Green Milkweed
Asclepias viridis
The quiet milkweed for dry, rocky ground, with greenish-white blooms and purple-tinged hoods. Often the only monarch host in those habitats.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
An uncommon milkweed for dry, rocky sites where even butterfly weed struggles. adds diversity to the monarch habitat palette.
Green milkweed is one of the quieter members of the milkweed family: modest in height, understated in color with its green and white flower heads, but genuinely important in the native ecosystem. It grows in dry prairies and rocky glades where it's often one of the only milkweed species present, making it the primary monarch host plant in those habitats. The flowers are distinctive: clusters of small greenish-white blooms with purple-tinged hoods that are much more interesting up close than from a distance. For gardeners building a diverse pollinator habitat, green milkweed fills a specific ecological role: monarch habitat on dry, rocky, or sandy soils where common milkweed and butterfly weed may or may not establish.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown green milkweed propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Dry
- Mature size
- 1–2 ft · 12–18 in wide
- Bloom time
- Late spring, midsummer
- Bloom color
- White, Green
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Native range
- Eastern and Central United States
Care notes for green milkweed.
Full sun in dry, rocky, or sandy well-drained soil. Requires excellent drainage. does not tolerate wet or heavy clay conditions. Deep taproot; difficult to transplant. Very slow to emerge in spring. Completely drought-tolerant once established. No fertilizing needed in poor soils.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside green milkweed.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.